We just called it cooked fish in fresh tomato sauce.

OK, I concede Chraimi is more intriguing and sounds like more fun.

Chraimi is precisely the kind of dish where preserved lemon makes all the difference: You should always have them on hand, as they are heavenly in this and many other dishes. Please note the dish has no added salt as the preserved lemon is enough to season it.

No preserved lemon?

Substitute 1 thinly sliced lemon, and be prepared for a Chraimi 90 percent as good.

Any thick firm fish will be suitable for Chraimi. My daughter Bella asked me to make sure I don’t forget to recommend using diced mock shrimp too, her favorite.

Instructions

In a large wide-bottom pot, bring the water, oil, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, cloves, bay leaves, and paprika to a boil.

Meanwhile, coarsely grind the garlic, parsley, cilantro, and preserved lemon in a food processor using the pulse button. Add the ground mixture to the pot and stir. Add the red pepper and the fish (or the fishballs if you are making fishballs), and bring to a boil. Reduce the temperature to medium and cook covered for 20 minutes. Transfer the fish onto a platter with a slotted spoon. check the cooking liquids in the pot: If they are too thin, reduce them at high temperature until thickened. Pour the sauce over the fish. Serve hot or at room temperature, making sure you top each serving with the sauce. Makes 8 servings.

Variations: Moroccan Fishballs in Tomato Sauce.

You can easily adapt Chraimi to Moroccan Fishballs:

They are no less popular than the mother Chraimi Recipe.

I hope you don't use Gefilte fish in a desire to save time on grinding the fish (I have often seen it done, to great disadvantage, hence the friendly warning). Using this gimmick will save you a negligible amount of time, while lots of good flavor will be lost. Grinding fish in a food processor is a snap and takes a minute or two, and you will end up with a far superior dish. Use all ingredients and instructions just as directed, but first grind 2 pounds of fish (salmon, tilapia, cod, any nice you find at the market, no need to get anything expensive) with 2 eggs, a little oil, salt and pepper, to a smooth paste: that's the whole story! Wait for the mixture to come to a boil, shape balls and throw them in the pot. Process with the recipe just as directed.

Is this your “Moroccan Fish” my husband is telling me to find on your site? We love your cooking. I would be so happy if you had a “Print” button on your recipes. I love to print recipes and keep them in a book or even just to have next to me while I am making the dish.

I planned to make this for the yom tov and I started to panic because I couldn’t find my copy of The Whole Foods cookbook. Then I remembered that you probably have it here. And you do.
Levana, you saved my chag!

As someone always secretly harboring a hope of hidden Sephardi ancestry, I was delighted to learn this recipe is actually not as complicated as I’d imagined. Delicious every time! I overestimated my need for the vegetable/spice/tomato mixture, froze what wasn’t used immediately and made the same dish the next week–almost like getting a freebie!

Seyma that’s brilliant. Next time this happens and you want more adventure, put that extra sauce in a stovetop with a few chicken thighs and a little water, and cook it until the chicken is tender and the liquids are reduced, about an hour. This is how stars are born! Hey wondering if you have my fan page address, this is where everyone shares comments and recipes: Facebook.com/levanakirschenbaum

Carole…. sigh…. May I recommend grinding some fresh fish in the food processor, in about 10 seconds? You will be in complete control of what goes in, and the difference will be like night and day. We all buy gefilte fish when we must, but to use it as a starting point for a really good from-scratch recipe? I don’t think so. It’s like those carrot muffins made with baby food jars of boiled carrots….. So: Please don’t. You’ll be happy you didn’t!

I was so happy to buy your book. But first of all I want to tell you that we need a restaurant in Providence, RI a kosher one. Since I came to RI we din t really had a good one. So I don t know what you can do for us?

Massouda I’m so glad! What you can do is bring me in for cooking demos, and we spend a fun and delicious evening. I am including the link to my demos. See you in Providence:-))) https://www.levanacooks.com/book-levana/

Hi Levanna,
I made this recipe for Rosh Hashana with salmon and it was great. Would you please be able to tell me the difference between this recipe and moroccan salomon. I’ve spoken to many moroccan friends and everyone seems to have a different recipe they call” Moroccan Salmon” Some people use tomato paste, garbanzo bean, peppers. Your recipes are always good, I would love to know your opinion.
Thank You,
Donna